Java.April.2016

PUBLISH OR PERISH
By Robert Sentinery
BUZZ
When Harold Jefferson Coolidge penned the phrase “Publish or perish” in 1932,
he was addressing fellow scholars who were honing their careers in academia,
hoping to secure tenure-track positions. I doubt Coolidge could have imagined
the relevance of those words in today’s social media–driven culture, where
individuals become news channels unto themselves. As our feeds clog with an
ever-expanding glut, it is refreshing to step back and embrace some of the old
ways of sharing ideas and creative enterprises.
This might seem self-serving coming from the editor of a (primarily) print
magazine, but there is a growing legion of people who eschew the online frenzy
for something more tactile, sensory and experiential. For example, Phoenix has
seen a recent spike in the number of record labels releasing locally honed music
stamped out on vinyl. Yes, turntables are required, but this is a national trend,
and the factories that still press vinyl records have been running at full capacity.
The four labels that writer Tom Reardon looks at espouse a primarily punk, indie
and D.I.Y. aesthetic, which makes sense, since it’s all about being hands-on (see
“Local Record Labels,” p. 12).
Printed books are another dinosaur medium that won’t go away, and that’s
a good thing for novelist Paul Mosier, who loves to write. He has stacks of
handwritten journals, which are embellished with artistic covers that Mosier
painted himself. It is that kind of creative thinking and honing of his craft that
recently landed him a two-book deal with HarperCollins, one of the big-five
publishing houses in the world.
Paul and his wife, Keri, are longtime creatives who’ve managed to eke out a
living and raise two beautiful girls. Keri has been running her Mer*maid line
of jewelry since the ’90s, and Paul has sold paintings and taken writing gigs
over the years. Troubling news recently shook their cozy Coronado home when
their youngest daughter, Harmony (age seven), was diagnosed with cancer. The
central Phoenix community has rallied around the Mosiers with fundraising
efforts and support, and the good news is that Harmony’s tumor is shrinking (see
“Novelist Paul Mosier,” p. 34).
When the Phoenix Art Museum brought in its new director, Amada Cruz, a little
over a year ago, there was controversy. Some longtime employees were let go
as part of the changing of the guard, and the local media had a feeding frenzy.
Now that the dust has settled, writer Jenna Duncan had the opportunity to sit
down with Cruz. What she found was a warm and open person who brings an
enormous amount of experience, having worked at some of the top museums
around the country. Cruz is devoted to serving not only the public—by making
the museum more open and culturally diverse—but also artists, with whom she
has many close personal friendships and gains much inspiration for her own
work (see “Amada Cruz: The New Face of Phoenix Art Museum,” p. 8).